“Rust and Bone”: Two sexy stars (French Marion Cotillard and Belgian Matthias Schoenaerts), gorgeous visuals, and a shocking tragedy or two — it all adds up to one of the year’s steamiest, most untamed love stories. R ***
-1/2

“Killing Them Softly”: Tough, stylish and brutal, it’s set in the present but could easily have been made in the ’70s, when Hollywood cranked out tons of smart character-based thrillers about hit men. With Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta and Richard Jenkins. R ***-1/2

“Silver Linings Playbook”: Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence star as a man recovering from mental illness and a grieving widow who can come up with a million reasons why they shouldn’t fall in love. And yet … . R ***

“Skyfall”: It’s one of the best Bonds ever, and the “why” has a lot to do with Javier Bardem as the supervillain, who is alternately annoyed by and turned on by 007. PG-13 ***-1/2

“Flight”: Does any big movie star make more interesting choices than Denzel Washington? His complicated performance is the key to this drama about a heroic pilot with a damaging secret. R ***-1/2

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